"oregon"

The lives of sea otters — the tool-using marine mammals — were once intertwined with those of the coastal tribes in Oregon. Now, local Native Americans are hoping to bring them back.

“It has been a secret and so people have not feared it the way we feared polio,” said Marge Loennig, 87. “I think that if people had been open, some of the anti vaccine people would have not been so reluctant.”

The new law includes an option that could allow some schools to keep using team names like Chiefs, Braves, Indians or Tomahawks. School administrators would need to consult with a nearby tribe and win permission for respectful use beyond January 1, 2022. Several school districts in central and eastern Washington have already begun those conversations with tribal leaders.

The case, Sinnok v. State of Alaska, is being brought by 16 young Alaskans arguing that current policy violates their right to “a stable climate system” under the state constitution.

For the second time this year, Alaska law enforcement has found a suspect in a long-stalled investigation using a new technique known as genetic genealogy.

Typically, when a contaminated site is discovered it’s up to the landowner — or the person responsible for making the mess — to clean it up. But there are dozens of sites where this process has broken down.

Scientists once thought starfish die-offs were caused by a virus or another pathogen. But now some think it might be another sign of climate change.

“The courts’ view of it is that the case is unusual enough and novel enough that it would be wise to resolve some of the legal uncertainty before trial rather than after,” said environmental law professor Sean Hecht.

The draft is modeled on Oregon’s policy, which is more detailed than the current version, adopted in 2000.

Russian hackers attempted to penetrate Washington and Oregon’s voter registration systems last year. Top elections officials in both states received that confirmation Friday from the Department of Homeland Security.